Just sent off two grad school friends back to the airport and New York this morning. We drank. We watched Star Wars and then spent two days arguing about it. And about music. And science. And lots of other things because it’s pretty much our favorite thing to do – sit around drinking and arguing.

With some folks it never feels like any time has passed. This feel is especially pronounced when you go on a drunken 2 mile hike on a Saturday night on a quest for whiskey and burritos.

There’s a new Radiohead album out today. It’s the exact kind of Radiohead album I wanted, but didn’t know I needed as of a week ago. Choral arrangements, Strings, synths and Thom Yorke being Thom Yorke. Which also means new Radiohead music videos.

Last First Snow by Max Gladstone (book 4 in the Craft Sequence). These are so deligtful. They’re vibrant and fun and exciting with the kind of worldbuilding and atmosphere that makes me think of a Sword and Sorcery Law and Order. I got into these books on the recommendation from my friend Nicole.

Inherit the Stars by James Hogan. Had never heard of this before a friend of mine in SD recommended it. He me to read it so we could talk about it later, so I picked up an ooooooold used copy that was printed in ’82 – the year I was born. There’s a quote on the cover from Isaac Asimov comparing Hogan to Clarke.

Word of mouth recommendations are the lifeblood of all art. Give me recommendations from friends who know or share my taste. Give me an empassioned rant over beers. Tell me what it means to you and why. Tell me why you hated it and what could have been done better and why. Tell me why you were disappointed or surprised. Then let’s talk about how it could be done better.

Sometimes I wonder if one of the reasons I’ve been able to forestall what I used to believe was an inevitable decline into cynicism as I got older is because I am never not in search of new art and people to talk to about it with. Almost like I need that hope in the future that my heart will always beat a little faster as I wait for brand new Radiohead tracks to finish downloading so I can spend all morning listening to them.

I’ll be another year older next month. I’m still getting used to the feeling that time just keeps getting stranger – it passes, but doesn’t pass at all. You change, but never change at all. Forever, everything always in one instant.